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(No Mode1;) I 2 Sh'eefis-Sheet 1. L. M. HAUPT.

MEANS FOR IMPROVING RIVERS, HARBOBS, &c. N0. 339.548.

Pa'tentedApI-a 6, 1886.-

N. PETERS Phowhtnegrapher, Walningtcm n. a

[No Model.) 2 SheetsSh"eet 2.

' L. M. HAUPT.

MEANS PORIMPROVING RIVERS, HARBORS, m.

,548. Patented Apr. 6, 1886.

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Unrrsn Srnrns PATENT @rricn.

LEXVIS M. HAUPT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MEANS FOR IMPROVING RlVERS, HAReoRs, ac.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,548, dated April 6, 1886.

Application filed January 12, 1886. Serial No. 188,298.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS M. HAUPT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Penn sylvania, have invented a new and useful Im provement in Means for Improving the Condition ofRivers, Harbors, 850., and of Rapidly, Cheaply, and Effectually Deepening the faters therein, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

My invention consists in improving the channels of rivers and harbors, or in preparing the bed of foundations for certain marine structures, as light houses, moles, breakwaters, 8:0.

The practice has been, and is, to remove the shoals or bars, or the alluvium of the bottom, either by dredging by buckets or by waterjets, or otherwise, by constructing temporary or permanent jet-ties, wing-dams, submerged dams, or dikes, by means of which the area of the water way is contracted, and thus the velocity, and consequent scour, of the water is increased by the small amount due to the additional head and velocity given by such lateral contractions. It is generally accepted as true, that in large streams, when the depth exceeds one-fourth the width, the filament of maximum velocity, called here the axis, will be found at about one-fifth the depth below the surface, and that the least velocity will be along the line of the wetted perimeter, or on the bed of the stream. It is also true that the scouring capacity of a stream is greatest, cceterz's pan-thus, where the velocity is greatest. It follows from these principles, whenever it is desired to deepen a channel or remove an obstruction by undermining it, that if the axis of the current be turned directly upon the part to be removed, by deflecting it upon the bottom, instead of merely (as formerly) contracting the channel or deflecting laterally by wing-dams, 850., the effect will be much greater, as, in addition to the contraction due to the space occupied by the shield and its supports, there is the momentum due the head caused by the difference of level between the high and low edgesof the shield, at whatever angle it may be set.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to

(No model.)

create any desired head of water which the locality will permit, and to utilize it immediately by projecting it directly, either obliquely or vertically, upon the obstruction to be removed, thus greatly increasing the scouring capacity of the current by changing the position of the thread of maximum velocity, and to maintain the channel so opened by placing the floating deflectors in such a position as to direct the current into such channel.

The invention consists of an adjustable deflecting-shield, of any form, material, or size, suitable to the locality and amount of work to be done, suspended, substantially as hereinafter set forth, so that its upstream edge shall be at or near the surface of the water, while the lower or downstream edge may be dropped and held by any suitable mechanism at any desired depth below the surface. The axis of rotation .is at the edge of the shield or deflector. The shield or deflector may be composed of any number of articulations, arranged at any angle, making trailing pieces, connected one to another, en train, for the purpose of preventing' the backlash, continuing the direction of the deflected current, or of increasing the carrying capacity of the bottom filaments after the material has been loosened up by the de scending chute of water under the deflector. These trailing pieces may be loaded so as to hold them in the most effective position. In tidal waters one or more such pieces will be found serviceable in preventing the floodtide from carrying the sand or mud under the shield, and so filling up again parts which have been scoured by the ebb. The shields are intended to be arranged in one or more rows transversely to the current and of solidcientlength to cover, either in whole or part, the swath or path of the channel to be created. These will then be made up in sections of suitable lengths to be readily handled, and when not in use may be unshipped and stowed in the hold of the barges. When in broad bays or estuaries it may bedesired to prevent the current from spreading out laterally, other shields may be hung vertically from the outside of the end boats-as curtains-and by attaching their upstream ends to horizontal beams on deck they may be made to flare outward, and so produce a further concentration of the forces available for scouring; or flexible curtains or deflectors may be anchored to buoys or floats at distant points. so as to direct the current into the channel to be maintained. Such deflectors, when placed in tidal waters or rivers, should fulfill the following requirements: They should not rest upon the bottom, thus producing pressure and under mining where it would be injurious, nor project above the surface, to be subject to the direct action ofthe wind, waves, or ice. They should be flexible and adjustable, so as to be readily moved and set at the proper angle to produce the desired effect. They should con sist of a repetition of units or parts by which the system may be indefinitely and cheaply extended, yet be sufflciently strong and rigid to resist the sub-surface action of waves and currents. They should occupy a minimum of space, and so disturb to the least extent the regimen of the river or harbor, should be of material not attacked by the teredo, and should be composed of such materials as are readily obtainable. All of these conditions are fulfilled by the devices shown.

I am aware that netting and a device known as Brownlow weeds, consisting of brushwood tied to ropes suspended from buoys, have been extensively and successfully used in river improvements, which are designed to break or check the velocity of the current by interference, and so cause deposits of silt or other material in the rear of such barriers, whereas in the deflectors herein described the object is not to deposit, but to remove, material by utilizing the force of the current in the manner described.

In certain places with hard bottom it may 7 be found advantage us to attach long prods or cutters to the lower edges of the trails to loosen the material by the agitation caused by the current.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure l is aview in vertical section, partly in elevation, of the deflecting-shield; Fig. 2, a plan View thereof; Fig. 3, a View similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating different supporting and adjusting means; Fig. 4, a plan view showing the deflectingshield combined with lateral deflecting devices, and Fig. 5 a perspective view illustrating devices for deflecting the current laterally to the points where the deflecting-shields are lo cated.

In the drawings, A represents a series of articulated or flexible adjustable shields having their axes of rotation, a, at or near the surface of the water, and provided with suitable adjustable and supporting means.

The devices for holding the deflectors in place may consist of a row of piles, P, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, driven across the current at suitable intervals, and having sheaves S attached near the bottom of each, under which may be passed a flexible tension member, a, fastened at the lower end to the downstream edge of the shield A, and at the upper end to a winch, \V, or other device for winding. By this mechanism the lower edge of the deflector may be drawn under the surface, and be held at any desired inclination to the axis of the stream, thus deflecting the current downward, and causing it to flow out under the lower edge, producing a more or less violent scour, depending upon the size ofthe shield and depth and velocity of the stream or current. In this case the piles must be removed as the work adva nces.

A serviceable device consists of bateaux, pontons, canal-boats, scows. buoys, or barges, (represented by the letter B in Figs. 3 and 4,) anchored over or above the obstruction to be removed, and having between them and attached to their sides simi ar shields, A, which may be depressed by movable spuds S, guided vertically upon the ponton, barge, or support B, and bearing at their lower ends against the shields, so as to adjust the same to any height and maintain it thereat. The upper end of the spud is represented as provided with a rackbar engaged by a pinion on the support B, whereby the spud may be moved up or down, as desired.

In Figs. 4 and 5, A represents the lateral deflecting means. In Fig. 4 it consists of vertical wings, one on each side of the shield A, inclined toward said shield, so as to concentrate the current at that point by diverting it laterally.

In Fig. 5 the deflector A is a curtain in separate panels supported by stretchers a, which are sustained by buoys or floats, and by the vertical chains or flexible members P, which are secured at their lower ends by anch ors B.

It is obvious that modifications other than those shown and already described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. Thus the position of the deflectingshield A may be regulated by any suitable means, as by chains anchored to the bed of the stream, by weights applied in any manner, orby adjustable beams extending under the boats or supports 13.

Again, the boats themselves may be made with false bottoms so hinged that one or more parts may be lowered at any desired angle, or boats of ordinary construction having flat bottoms may themselves be placed at a sufficient angle in shallow streams with soft bottoms by simply shifting their ballast to the stern, and so obtain sufficient amount of inclination to produce the necessary scour. To maneuver the boats, a capstan may be placed in the bow and stern of each, to which the anchor chains or hawsers may be attached, and by winding on which the entire rank or ranks or barges may be advanced as the desired depths are obtained. The boats may be arranged in rows at right angles to the current,or in eschelon or otherwise, as may be found most effective.

Similar deflecting-shields attached to boats plying on \Vestern rivers would greatly expedite their removal from the bars on which they so frequentiy run aground.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- V l. Thesystem herein described for removing obstructions, alluvium, silt, or other matter from the channels of rivers and harbors, said system comprising floating, flexible, and adjustable deflectors having their axes of rotation supported at their ends at or near the surface of the water, substantially as set forth.

2. The flexible adjustable deflectors having their axes of rotation attached to points of support at or near the surface of the Water, in combination with operating mechanism, sul stantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with thesupport', of the deflecting articulated shield having its axis of rotation at its upper edge at or near the surface of the water, and means for adjusting the lower part or member to different heights, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the flexible, articulated, and adjustable deflectors, the supporting piles, sheaves, or pulleys attached thereto, flexible torsion members, and operating mechanism, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of vertical wings or ourtains for deflecting the current laterally, with the adjustableinclined deflector for producing vertical deflection of the current, substantially as set forth.

6. In a system for improving the channels of rivers and harbors, the combination, with the adjustable deflector for directing the current downwardly against the bed of the stream, of means, substantially as described, for concentrating the current at the point or points where said adj ust-able deflectoris located, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the adjustable flaring Wing's or curtains and means for supportingthe same, of the articulated, inclined, and adjustable deflector and its supporting means, substantially as and for the purposes described.

8. In a system forimproving rivers and harbors, the means for producing lateral deflection of the current, said means comprising, in combination, the flexible adjustable curtains, the floating supports, and the flexible vertical members attached to said supports at the upper ends and anchored at the other in the bed of the stream. substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

LEWIS M. HAUPT.

Witnesses:

B. O. HAUPT, JOHN A. Wrnnnesunnu. 

